South Dakota Deer Draw Odds

In the 2026 draw South Dakota offered 108 deer hunts to nonresidents, drawn by preference points. At 0 points a nonresident had at least an even chance in 33 hunts open to every hunter.

Applications Close
248 days
Jun 23

Open May 27 – Jun 23, 2027 (expected)

Cost to Apply
$25

Kept if you miss

Nonresident Tags
1,561

2026 draw

Applicants per Tag
4.3

6,651 nonresident applicants

Point only: $20 nonresident · Sep 15 – Dec 15 · Open now, closes Dec 15 → Buying Points in South Dakota

How the South Dakota Draw Works (30-Second Version)

Preference points.

Tags go to the applicants with the most preference points, one level at a time. If the last level that draws has more applicants than tags remaining, those applicants are chosen at random. Everyone below that level misses and earns a point.

Who can apply, fees and deadlines in South Dakota

Best Bets at 0 Points

Odds × hunter success × public land, 10 tags or more. Private-land, ranch, landowner and youth hunts left out.

Every Hunt at 0 Points

108 hunt codes drawn in 2026 · 35 at 50% or better · first choice · nonresident

Last year's odds were off by about 7 percentage points for applicants near the points needed. How we check

90–100% 50–89% 10–49% 1–9% under 1% fewer than 5 tags: one applicant swings it
One Line per Hunt Odds at Every Point Level
BHD-BH1-02 Unit BHD-BH1 · Antlered rifle · Black Hills Deer: BH102 · Any buck deer 0% —
BHD-BH1-12 Unit BHD-BH1 · Antlered rifle · Black Hills Deer: BH112 · Buck whitetail deer 0% —
RFD-LC1-01 Unit RFD-LC1 · Muzzleloader · Refuge Deer: LC101 · Any deer 0% (small sample) —
RFD-LC2-01 Unit RFD-LC2 · Muzzleloader · Refuge Deer: LC201 · Any deer 0% (small sample) —
RFD-SL1-01 Unit RFD-SL1 · Muzzleloader · Refuge Deer: SL101 · Any deer 0% (small sample) —
RFD-SL2-01 Unit RFD-SL2 · Rifle · Refuge Deer: SL201 · Any deer 0% (small sample) —
RFD-SL4-01 Unit RFD-SL4 · Muzzleloader · Refuge Deer: SL401 · Any deer 100% (small sample) —
RFD-SL5-01 Unit RFD-SL5 · Rifle · Refuge Deer: SL501 · Any deer 0% (small sample) —
RFD-WA1-01 Unit RFD-WA1 · Muzzleloader · Refuge Deer: WA101 · Any deer 0% (small sample) —
RFD-WA3-01 Unit RFD-WA3 · Muzzleloader · Refuge Deer: WA301 · Any deer 0% (small sample) —
WRD-02A-01 Unit WRD-02A · Rifle · West River Deer: 02A01 · Any deer 0% —
WRD-02A-13P Unit WRD-02A · Antlerless rifle · West River Deer: 02A13P · Antlerless whitetail deer 100% (small sample) —
WRD-02A-18 Unit WRD-02A · Rifle · West River Deer: 02A18 · Any whitetail deer, antlerless whitetail deer 36% —
WRD-02C-02 Unit WRD-02C · Antlered rifle · West River Deer: 02C02 · Any buck deer 0% —
WRD-02C-11 Unit WRD-02C · Rifle · West River Deer: 02C11 · Any whitetail deer 0% (small sample) —
WRD-11A-02 Unit WRD-11A · Antlered rifle · West River Deer: 11A02 · Any buck deer 0% —
WRD-11A-11 Unit WRD-11A · Rifle · West River Deer: 11A11 · Any whitetail deer 100% (small sample) —
WRD-11B-02 Unit WRD-11B · Antlered rifle · West River Deer: 11B02 · Any buck deer 0% (small sample) —
WRD-11B-11 Unit WRD-11B · Rifle · West River Deer: 11B11 · Any whitetail deer 0% (small sample) —
WRD-15A-01 Unit WRD-15A · Rifle · West River Deer: 15A01 · Any deer 0% —
WRD-15A-18 Unit WRD-15A · Rifle · West River Deer: 15A18 · Any whitetail deer, antlerless whitetail deer 0% —
WRD-15A-19P Unit WRD-15A · Antlerless rifle · West River Deer: 15A19P · 2 antlerless whitetail deer 100% —
WRD-15B-01 Unit WRD-15B · Rifle · West River Deer: 15B01 · Any deer 0% —
WRD-15B-18 Unit WRD-15B · Rifle · West River Deer: 15B18 · Any whitetail deer, antlerless whitetail deer 39% —
WRD-15B-19P Unit WRD-15B · Antlerless rifle · West River Deer: 15B19P · 2 antlerless whitetail deer 100% —

Showing 1–25 of 108 · sorted by unit · 170 hunts not offered in 2026 hidden — show discontinued hunts

Show all 108 hunts
What These Columns Mean
Odds at your points
—
the share of first-choice applicants at your point level who drew this tag in the 2026 draw. Not a forecast: quotas and demand move every year. A badge marked * had under five tags, so one applicant either way swings it.
Pts needed
—
the lowest point total that still got a tag in the 2026 draw; the ▲ or ▼ is how far that cut has moved since the earliest draw we hold. A 0 marks a hunt that went Undersubscribed: fewer first-choice applicants than tags, so everyone who applied drew.
Tags / apps
—
tags on offer and first-choice applicants for them, as the agency published them.
Success
—
the share of hunters in the unit who killed an animal, from the latest harvest report on file. It is the whole unit's figure, not the hunt's.
All 101 Units

Each unit has its own page: where it is on the map, how much of it is public land, what the hunters who went there killed last season, and every license type you can apply for inside it.

BHD-BD1 Black Hills Unit 1 (antlerless whitetail) 73% public BHD-BH1 Black Hills Unit 1 73% public CUD-CU1 Custer State Park 100% public ERD-01A Minnehaha County 2% public MZD-ST1 Statewide (muzzleloader, excludes Custer State Park) RFD-LC1 Lacreek National Wildlife Refuge (muzzleloader, Oct 21-27) 100% public RFD-SL1 Sand Lake National Wildlife Refuge (muzzleloader, Nov 14-18) 100% public RFD-WA1 Waubay National Wildlife Refuge (muzzleloader, Nov 14-22) 100% public RFD-LC2 Lacreek National Wildlife Refuge (muzzleloader, Nov 25-Dec 1) 100% public RFD-SL2 Sand Lake National Wildlife Refuge (Nov 19-23) 100% public WRD-02A PENNINGTON and MEADE counties 9% public WRD-02C PENNINGTON COUNTY south of I-90 and east of the Cheyenne River 60% public ERD-03A BROWN COUNTY, excluding Sand Lake National Wildlife Refuge 2% public RFD-SL3 Sand Lake National Wildlife Refuge (historical sub-hunt, not current) RFD-WA3 Waubay National Wildlife Refuge (muzzleloader, Nov 28-Dec 6) 100% public ERD-04A Beadle County 1% public RFD-SL4 Sand Lake National Wildlife Refuge (muzzleloader, Nov 30-Dec 6) 100% public ERD-05A Codington County 4% public RFD-SL5 Sand Lake National Wildlife Refuge (Dec 7-13) 100% public ERD-06A Brookings County 2% public ERD-07A YANKTON COUNTY, includes ERD-07B 3% public ERD-07B Yankton County (portion, included in Unit 07A) 3% public ERD-08A Davison County 0% public ERD-10A Aurora County 2% public WRD-11A BENNETT COUNTY, north of US 18 0% public WRD-11B BENNETT COUNTY, south of US 18, excluding Lacreek National Wildlife Refuge 4% public ERD-12A BON HOMME COUNTY, includes ERD-12B 4% public ERD-12B Bon Homme County (portion, included in Unit 12A) 4% public ERD-13A BRULE COUNTY, except those areas in ERD-13L 2% public ERD-13L BRULE COUNTY, limited to portions of the Brule Bottom Game Production Area and C 100% public ERD-14A BUFFALO COUNTY, excluding the Pease Game Production Area within Unit 13L 2% public WRD-15A BUTTE COUNTY except that portion included in 15B 17% public WRD-15B BUTTE COUNTY south of US 212 and west of SD 79 1% public ERD-16A Campbell County 4% public ERD-17A CHARLES MIX COUNTY, excluding Lake Andes National Wildlife Refuge 5% public ERD-18A Clark County 3% public ERD-19A Clay County 3% public WRD-20A Corson County 4% public WRD-21A CUSTER COUNTY east of SD 79 14% public WRD-21B Portions of CUSTER and PENNINGTON counties 1% public ERD-22A DAY COUNTY, excluding Waubay National Wildlife Refuge 3% public ERD-23A Deuel County 2% public WRD-24A DEWEY COUNTY, excluding Little Moreau Recreation Area and Game Production Area 0% public WRD-24B DEWEY COUNTY, limited to only the Little Moreau Recreation Area and Game Product 100% public ERD-25A Douglas County 2% public ERD-26A Edmunds County 3% public WRD-27A Portions of CUSTER and FALL RIVER counties (excluding Unit 27L) 31% public WRD-27B FALL RIVER COUNTY, areas not included in 27A and 27L 28% public WRD-27L FALL RIVER COUNTY limited to the Hill Ranch Game Production Area 100% public ERD-28A Faulk County 3% public ERD-29A Grant County 2% public WRD-30A Gregory County 3% public WRD-30B Gregory County 3% public WRD-31A Haakon County 1% public ERD-32A Hamlin County 3% public ERD-33A Hand County 2% public ERD-34A Hanson County 1% public WRD-35A HARDING COUNTY, west of US 85 excluding those portions of the Custer National Fo 18% public WRD-35C HARDING COUNTY, east of US 85 excluding those portions of the Custer National Fo 17% public WRD-35L HARDING COUNTY, restricted to Custer National Forest Service 98% public ERD-36A HUGHES COUNTY, excluding Farm Island Recreation Area, LaFramboise Island 3% public ERD-37A Hutchinson County 1% public ERD-38A Hyde County 5% public WRD-39A JACKSON COUNTY, north of the White River 24% public WRD-39B JACKSON COUNTY, south of the White River 0% public ERD-40A Jerauld County 1% public WRD-41A JONES COUNTY, except for that area in Unit WRD-45D (Ft 1% public ERD-42A Kingsbury County 3% public ERD-43A Lake County 3% public ERD-44A LINCOLN COUNTY, excluding Newton Hills State Park 1% public WRD-45A LYMAN COUNTY, west of SD 47 and south of southern boundary of the Lower Brule In 2% public WRD-45B LYMAN COUNTY, east of SD 47 and south of the southern boundary of the Lower Brul 12% public WRD-45C LYMAN and STANLEY counties 0% public WRD-45D LYMAN, STANLEY, and JONES counties all public land and private land 49% public ERD-46A McCook County 2% public ERD-47A McPherson County 6% public ERD-48A Marshall County 5% public WRD-49A MEADE COUNTY, east of I-90, south of US 212 4% public WRD-49B MEADE COUNTY, south of US Hwy 212 3% public WRD-50A Mellette County 1% public ERD-51A Miner County 2% public ERD-52A Moody County 1% public WRD-53A PERKINS COUNTY, north of SD 20 18% public WRD-53C PERKINS COUNTY, south of SD 20 and MEADE COUNTY, north of US 212 5% public ERD-54A Potter County 5% public ERD-55A Roberts County 2% public ERD-56A Sanborn County 1% public ERD-57A Spink County 1% public WRD-58A STANLEY COUNTY, except those areas in 45C and 45D 6% public WRD-58D Stanley County 6% public ERD-59A SULLY COUNTY, west of US 83 5% public ERD-59B SULLY COUNTY, east of US 83 6% public WRD-60A Tripp County 1% public ERD-61A Turner County 1% public ERD-62A Union County 2% public ERD-63A Walworth County 5% public WRD-64A Ziebach County 1% public WRD-65A Oglala Lakota County 10% public WRD-67A Todd County 0% public WRD-15A17P Butte County (Unit 15A antlerless quota license) 17% public WRD-15B17P Butte/Lawrence County (Unit 15B antlerless quota license) 1% public
Report an error on this page

Every report is checked against the agency source before we change anything.

About These Numbers

Every percentage here is the chance an applicant with that many points had in the draw year shown, computed from the agency's published results; quotas, applicant numbers and point levels change every year. A dash means the agency did not publish the number. Under five tags the percentage is flagged: one applicant either way swings it. Check the agency's site and apply there; we don't take applications. How we compute these.